The Bankruptcy of Purdue Pharma in the Wake of Big Tobacco

Two distinct public health crises shook the United States from 1954 to 2023: nicotine addiction from tobacco products, and opioid addiction starting with Purdue Pharmaceutical’s OxyContin. These crises resulted in millions of deaths and immense costs to the country as a whole. The nicotine crisis ended in a national settlement against four major tobacco manufacturers, which yielded hundreds of millions of dollars for those harmed by these products. The owners of Purdue, however, opted for bankruptcy instead of settlement, keeping the majority of the money made from OxyContin for Purdue’s owners, the Sackler family. These four tobacco giants and Purdue shared an almost identical trajectory before and during the massive civil litigation that eventually forced them into settlement negotiations with thousands of injured plaintiffs. Both engaged in health misinformation campaigns intended to obscure the inherent dangers and addictive potentials of their respective products, both lobbied government actors to secure their markets, and both eventually faced civil litigation from almost every U.S. state. Despite these similarities, Purdue has avoided a settlement, leaving the public without restitution for the harms caused by OxyContin. This Article proposes that these differences in litigation results were the direct result of the fundamental corporate differences between the publicly owned tobacco companies and the private, family-owned Purdue Pharmaceuticals. Executives in private companies are insulated from public outrage and outside interference in a way that public executives are not. Due to this insulation, private executives in general, and the Purdue executives specifically, can resort to litigation techniques that benefit the bad actors and leave nothing behind for those harmed. These corporate differences meant that the tobacco companies were forced to settle and pay appropriate restitutions to the public that they harmed, while Purdue, was able to—and did—opt for bankruptcy. Purdue’s bankruptcy left the public without compensation for harm done and allowed Purdue’s owners to enjoy civil immunity despite their direct role in the opioid crisis

Analysis of Sublethal Toxicity in Developing Zebrafish Embryos Exposed to a Range of Petroleum Substances using BE-SPME and Whole Transcriptome Microarray

The OECD 236 Fish Embryo Acute Toxicity Test guideline relies on four endpoints to describe exposure related effects (coagulation, lack of somite formation, tail-bud detachment from yolk-sac, and presence of heartbeat). Danio rerio (zebrafish) embryos were used to investigate these endpoints along with a number of additional sublethal effects (i.e. cardiac dysfunction, pericardial edema, yolk sac edema, tail curvature, hatch success, pericardial edema area, craniofacial malformation, swim bladder development, fin development, and heart rate) following five day exposures to one of seven petroleum substances. The substances investigated included two crude oils, three gas oils, a diluted bitumen, and a petrochemical containing a mixture of branched alcohols. Biomimetic extraction via solid phase microextraction (BE-SPME) was used to quantify freely dissolved test substances as the exposure metric. The most prevalent effects observed were pericardial and yolk sac edema, tail curvature, and lack of embryo viability. Whole transcriptome microarray was used to profile gene expression following exposure to two petroleum substances. Meaningful downregulated differential expression was localized to concentrations that already displayed sublethal morphological effects; therefore, whole transcriptome profiling did not provide sufficient data to be able to predict sublethal morphological effects. A BE-SPME threshold was determined to characterize sublethal morphological alterations that preceded embryo mortality. Overall, this work aids in the understanding of aquatic hazards of petroleum substances to developing zebrafish beyond traditional OECD 236 test endpoints and shows applicability of BE-SPME as an analytical tool to predict sublethal embryotoxicity

Response of CYP1A and VEGF in \u3ci\u3eCyprinodon variegatus\u3c/i\u3e When Exposed to Source/Dispersed Oil and Hypoxia

My thesis research focused on the effects of two environmental stressors on the small estuarine fish, Sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus). Specifically, I examined the effects of exposure to crude and dispersed oil and hypoxia. I looked for responses using a combination of molecular and ecological endpoints. These stressors were chosen because of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill which released 4.1 million barrels of crude oil into the northern Gulf of Mexico. An estimated 2.1 million gallons of Corexit 9500 was used in an attempt to disperse the oil slick into the water column. The spill happened in a time and region that is also chronically affected by hypoxia. Previous research has indicated that there may be an interaction between the molecular pathways Sheepshead minnow use to respond or defend against both hydrocarbon and hypoxia stress (specifically that Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator (ARNT) and Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1β (HIF-1β) are hypothesized to be the same protein). Furthermore, much of the research using hydrocarbon exposure on estuarine fish has ignored this potentially critical interaction. Therefore, I focused my thesis research on explaining the effects co-exposure to ecologically relevant levels of crude (non-dispersed) and dispersed (with Corexit 9500) oil and hypoxia could have on the environment. My results indicate that Cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) increases in a dose dependent manner when larval and adult C. variegatus are exposed to crude (WAF) and dispersed crude (CEWAF) oil. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) expression increases in a dose dependent manner when larval C. variegatus are exposed to 2.5 mg/L dissolved oxygen (DO) levels. Also, a synergistic effect is observed on CYP1A expression when co-exposure to WAF + hypoxia, CEWAF + hypoxia occurs. Finally, along with an increase in adult mortality when co-exposed to WAF/CEWAF and hypoxia, I observed a decrease in egg production, egg hatch success and larval survival when hypoxia and co-exposure occurs. A significant difference was observed between the egg production within WAF/CEWAF + hypoxia exposed adults and the adults exposed to control treatments (hypoxia - P\u3c0.05, hypoxia WAF - P\u3c0.05, and hypoxia CEWAF - P\u3c0.05). In addition, a significant difference was observed in egg hatch success between WAF/CEWAF + hypoxia exposed eggs and control treatment exposed eggs as well as eggs that were continuously exposed to the hypoxic treatment (hypoxia treatment - P\u3c0.001, hypoxia WAF CTRL and TRT - P\u3c0.001, hypoxia CEWAF CTRL and TRT - P\u3c0.001). My research shows a significant impact on reproductive success during simultaneous exposure to WAF/CEWAF and hypoxia; this indicates the importance of taking environmental parameters such as hypoxia into consideration when evaluating the impact of an oil spill

Variations in Atmospheric 13C/14C Ratios within a Radiocarbon Preparatory Lab and Implications for AMS Measurements

At CAMS, we focus on measuring carbon isotopes (12/13/14C) for a variety of applications. High precision radiocarbon AMS measurements are used for measuring atmospheric radiocarbon. The problem with performing high precision radiocarbon AMS measurements is that there’s almost always background contamination introduced during preparation for the AMS. For graphite preparation, dry ice is used in an isopropyl-dry ice mixture to condense H2O in the CO2 extraction and reduction lines. Dry ice is composed of 12/13C and releases carbon into the atmosphere as it sublimes. The dry ice for preparation is held in containers inside and outside the lab. We believe this may be a possible source of background contamination during the graphite preparatory phase for AMS. This experiment will provide data for quality control for ultra precise measurements at CAMS, LLNL. We measured the 13C/14C ratios of air at multiple locations within the graphitization lab and compared them across the lab and to atmosphere to test the following hypotheses: H1: 13C/14C ratios of lab air vary from atmosphere. H2: 13C/14C ratios vary across sites within the lab. We found that air in the graphite lab varies from atmosphere and at different sites within the lab. The dry ice containers are releasing depleted 13C and 14C into the lab air and affect lab sites close to them. This could lead to contamination when weighing out samples when CO2 can remain adsorbed to the sample during preparation. It is recommended that the dry ice containers be removed from the lab to reduce background contamination levels

Quality Assurance of CO2 from Natural Gas Source For the SPRUCE Experiment

The goal of the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment project, led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is to observe and assess ecological responses of peatland ecosystems to increased temperatures and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Control plots are maintained at ambient temperatures and/or CO2 concentrations. Treatments are applied in a full factorial design; plots are warmed to +2.25, +4.5, +6.75, and +9oC and exposed to an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 800 to 900 ppm. These parameters are set to reflect projected temperatures and atmospheric CO2 levels in the next century. The source for the CO2 that is added comes from natural gas, a fossil fuel, which is depleted in 13C and 14C. New CO2 source tanks are delivered one to two times a week. We wanted to make sure the CO2 was consistently coming from natural gas and not other sources. We measured the δ13C and Δ14C of mixed ambient and elevated CO2 in treatment plots and ambient CO2 in control plots. Using the δ13C and Δ14C for mixed (treatment) and ambient (control) atmospheric CO2, we were able to calculate δ13C and Δ14C for elevated CO2. We found that the CO2 source consistently comes from natural gas

A Method for Investigating “Instructional Familiarity” and Discerning Authentic Learning

Background: Presently, most medical educators rely exclusively on item difficulty and discrimination indices to investigate an item’s psychometric quality and functioning. We argue “instructional familiarity” effects should also be of primary concern for persons attempting to discern the quality and meaning of a set of test scores. Aim: There were four primary objectives of this study: (1) Revisit Haladyna and Roid’s conceptualization of “instructional sensitivity” within the context of criterion‑referenced assessments, (2) provide an overview of “instructional familiarity” and its importance, (3) reframe the concept for a modern audience concerned with medical school assessments, and (4) conduct an empirical evaluation of a medical school examination in which we attempt to investigate the instructional effects on person and item measures. Subjects and Methods: This study involved a medical school course instructor providing ratings of instructional familiarity (IF) for each mid‑term examination item, and a series of psychometric analyses to investigate the effects of IF on students’ scores and item statistics. The methodology used in this study is based primarily on a mixed‑method, “action research” design for a medical school course focusing on endocrinology. Rasch measurement model; correlation analysis. Results: The methodology presented in this article was evidenced to better discern authentic learning than traditional approaches that ignore valuable contextual information about students’ familiarity with exam items. Conclusions: The authors encourage other medical educators to adopt this straightforward methodology so as to increase the likelihood of making valid inferences about learning.Keywords: Action research, Assessment, Medical education, Psychometrics, Testin

Exactness of Acoustic Wave Fronts Calculated via Fresnel-Kirchhoff Integrals

Higher Educatio

The concept of social justice and righteousness in the eighth century prophets

This item was digitized by the Internet Archive. Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universityhttps://archive.org/details/theconceptofsoci00hed

Man and the Sea

This document contains transcripts of Joel Hedgpeth’s series of lectures delivered over KPFA radio in Berkeley, California. These passionate lectures described the uses of oceanography, attempted to differentiate between oceanography and marine science, and encouraged students to pursue oceanography. Joel Hedgpeth was a director of the Hatfield Marine Science Center

Linear and circular k-combinations with restrictions

For several years problems involving k-combinations of n objects have filled the literature. Most of these have concerned combinations taken on a line, but selections arranged on a circle are also of interest. The aim here is to organize and discuss in some detail these linear combinations in addition to the circular varieties. Various restrictions will be placed on the combinations. Finally, an apparently unlikely relationship will be established between k-combinations and the Fibonacci and Lucas sequences. Any intermediate mathematics student with only a minimum of experience in the field should have little difficulty with this discussion. Familiarity with only the basic concepts is assumed. The books of Riordan [11] as well as Netto [10] are recommended references. For notation, terminology, and basic combinatorial results, we follow Riordan